News / Holyrood hears of discard fears
THE CONCERNS of Shetland fishermen over the upcoming discards ban were raised in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday afternoon.
During the debate – ahead of the crucial end of year quota negotiations in Brussels next week – the need for a phased introduction of the landing obligation starting with haddock was acknowledged.
Speaking on behalf of local MSP Tavish Scott, who was stuck in Shetland due to weather-related flight disruptions, Orkney MSP Liam MacArthur said the ban, if handled poorly, could put fishermen out of business.
He reminded the parliament that one third of all fish landed in the UK was brought ashore in Shetland.
He also highlighted the continuing dissatisfaction with the Faroese mackerel deal, which has seen the isles’ Nordic neighbour catching almost 50,000 tonnes of the pelagic species in Scottish waters around Shetland.
MacArthur said: “Seafood is worth hundreds of millions of pounds to the Shetland economy.
“It is more important than oil and gas and therefore government policy must help not hinder a sustainable future for fishing.
“Before the discards ban is introduced, the Scottish government must ensure that a comprehensive plan details how it will work in practice without damaging Shetland’s whitefish sector.
“There must be a phased approach for the main whitefish stocks due to come into effect in January 2016.”
He added: “The Shetland industry has real concerns over the EU deal which awarded the Faroe Islands a huge increase in the mackerel quota. I want the Scottish Fisheries Minister to respond to these points in today’s debate. “
His views were supported by Tory list MSP Jamie McGrigor, who also called for increased quota allocations to compensate for the landing obligation.
“There are real concerns in the white fish sector about the practical implications of this discard ban and working out a useable scheme that doesn’t penalise our white fish boats must be a big priority for next year.
“I agree with the sensible suggestion in Tavish Scott’s amendment that a phased approach must be considered,” he said.
Speaking in parliament, fisheries secretary Richard Lochhead made again the case for the UK delegation at the fisheries talks to be led by him.
He added: “Whilst at council next week in addition to securing the best outcome across a range of quotas for our fishermen I will raise the issue of the landing obligation which comes into force next year.
“Otherwise known as the discard ban, it will fundamentally change the way we fish and as a result we simply must rethink the fundamentals of how we manage fishing.
“At council I will also raise the importance of needing to begin to develop without delay new fisheries management approaches to enable effective delivery of the discard ban while maintaining the viability of European fleets.”
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